Well, I'm back from the Can Am dealership.
I looked the Defender over again and even now, when I think I want one, it is obviously not put together as sturdily as the Pioneer. I don't like the XT winch either, I prefer the Warn that my Honda has. Their "full skid plates" are plastic, not thick UHMW but thinner plastic than what Honda has as a factory "skid plate".
It does have a more comfortable seat, and it does have more storage but it doesn't have the shoulder room that the Pioneer does because of shoulder bolsters which I picked up on very quickly since I am very particular with my left shoulder now.
The air intake for the CVT is right there behind the driver (with some Frogskin on it) and the air intake for the engine is right behind the passenger entry a little lower than the top edge of the bed and it looks like the transmission vents are zip tied to the intake as well. I like that it has a downturn and it actually has a drain on the dirty air side of the air cleaner. It actually looks very similar to the one that I designed for the 1998 Dodge Viper way back when. It is higher than the stock Honda but to
@hondabob's point it is drawing in from a very dirty air position. So I don't like that at all. I figure for my driving dusty/dirty air is more of a danger than sucking in water, especially if I put a mini-snorkel on it.
Even after looking at everything and losing my enthusiasm somewhat, I went in and talked to them about trading.
To make a long story, longer, to get a 2016 Defender HD10XT with bumper it would cost me right at $4,000 with tax.
So, no way that is going to happen. I can fix A LOT on my Pioneer that doesn't happen to be covered by the 5 years worth of warranty for that type of cash. Plus I would give up the very nice doors that I like that come in very handy on some of my briar infested trails on the farm and I lose the back seats which means my wife won't go with me if my brother goes too. She says she would go deaf sitting between us yelling at each other.
I came home and drove my Pioneer around some more and I tried6 or 7 times and I couldn't recreate the issue, so it must have just gotten in a bind. That is the first time it has done that other than sometimes not hitting Neutral when I want it to.
So I guess I will stick around and be a thorn in everyone's side after all.
So for those hoping to be rid of me: